Lessons Learned
by Que Sera Sarah
Summary: Set after Haunted. Suze starts her shifter lessons with Paul, and actually learns something worth knowing...[ON HIATUS. Probably forever.]
1. Detention

**OK, here's the first chapter of my first real fanfic...enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't Suze, Paul (unfortunately), Jesse, or any of the other characters in this story.**

_"Oh, querida, I was so worried about you!" Jesse said huskily, sweeping me up in his strong arms. _

_"You don't have to worry about me, Jesse, I'm fine. It was just a gang of bloodthirsty murderous ghosts; nothing I haven't seen before!" I shrugged nonchalantly, and Jesse laughed his deep, pleasant laugh._

_"I love you, my strong, beautiful Susannah." He whispered, drawing me closer to him, and then he kissed me. I closed my eyes blissfully..._but snapped them open when I heard my name being called angrily.

"Miss Simon, if you don't know the answer, kindly say so instead of just sitting there. You're wasting everyone's time!" I gasped and snapped my head up. I glanced around the room, realizing that everyone was staring at me. I quickly looked back at my desk, and noticed a small pile of drool by where I had passed out. God, how embarrassing! I immediately turned tomato red, and looked at my teacher, who was glaring at me.

"Sorry Mr. O'Rourke, what was the question?" I asked sheepishly. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Miss Simon, please see me after class. Kelly, would you care to inform Susannah what we are talking about?" Kelly glanced up from her nails, which she had been filing, with a bored look on her face.

"He's droning on about boring triangles..._again_."

"Well Kelly, I would assume so, since this _is_ a trigonometry class." Mr. O'Rourke remarked wryly. Kelly rolled her eyes and resumed filing.

"Yeah, whatever. At least I'm not asleep like Simon over there." Thankfully right then it was time to leave, so I was saved from the necessity of replying. I'm pretty sure what I was going to say wasn't very Catholic-school appropriate, and I was already in enough trouble with the whole sleeping in class thing. As my fellow classmates bolted for the door, I made my way to the front of the room.

"Susannah, that's the third time you've fallen asleep in my class. Are you sleeping OK at home?" Mr. O'Rourke asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

_Yeah, your class is just so freakin' BORING!_ OK, so I didn't really say that, but I wanted to. I mean, it was the truth. My dream was SO much better than a boring old trig lesson...

"Yeah, I just have this big history project that's due next week, and I've been trying to get a head start on it. And I think much better late at night, so..." OK, so it was a bad lie, but who cares? I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him the real reason I haven't gotten much sleep lately...and I don't think he really wanted to know.

"Well Susannah, I'm sorry, but this has got to stop. Maybe a nice afternoon in detention will convince you to sleep at HOME and not during my class?" Aww, shit. Detention on a Friday afternoon? This sucks! I sighed, but accepted my punishment without argue. I did have it coming, falling asleep in school again. Maybe he's right. Maybe I should sleep more...but the problem really wasn't sleeping _more_, it was sleeping _better_. I couldn't control my nightmares; they came and went at will. I sighed again, and headed off to the detention room. It's only a few hours, right? How bad could it be?

The minute I walked through the door, I realized my grave mistake. It could be REALLY bad.

"Well, well, well, what a pleasant surprise! Have you come to keep me company, Suze? I'm touched." Damn, I forgot! Paul was still serving detention for his outburst at Kelly and the novice last week. Wow, my afternoon was suddenly starting to suck. I glared at Paul and sat down in a desk across the room from him. It was no use though; he strolled over and sat down at the desk right in front of me, and turned around to face me. "Aaw, that's no fun. How are we going to talk if you don't sit near me?"

"I think that's kind of the point, Paul. I DON'T want to talk to you! Now leave me alone, please." I said with as much dignity as I could muster, given we were in detention, not the most dignified place in the world. But Paul didn't leave me alone. Not that I really expected him to, but it would have been a nice change. He leaned over his chair so his elbows were on my desk and he was looking at me straight in the eyes. He had such gorgeous eyes...NO! I will NOT think about Paul that way! He is a lying, manipulative bastard who had tried to ruin my life countless times, not to mention almost ending it.

"So, what are you in jail for? Murder...robbery...prostitution?" He asked in that sexy...no, _annoying_, yeah, that's it...voice of his, winking at me suggestively. Um, can you say EEW?

"Not that it's any of your business, I fell asleep in my trig class." I answered stiffly, giving him an icy stare.

"Well, no wonder you suck at math. Now I know why you can't seem to finish your homework." **[A/N: Paul finished her trig homework for her in Haunted in the computer lab, when she was struggling on it, if you don't remember.]** He smirked at me, his expressive blue eyes twinkling.

"Shut up, Paul—" I began, but just then Sister Ernestine walked in.

"Hmm, nice to see my two favorite people in here...at the same time. You both know the rules by now, no talking, or communicating of any kind, with each other." She began to lecture us, and then snapped, "Paul, go sit on the other end of the room." She sat down at the teacher's desk and pulled a bible out of her nun's habit.

"Thank God!" I exclaimed, about Paul sitting far away from me, not Sister Ernestine reading the bible, I mean.

"Susannah Simon! Do not take the Lord's name in vain!" Sister Ernestine snapped at me, looking appalled.

"Sorry, Sister." I replied, trying not to laugh out loud at her shocked face. Why should I care? I'm not religious. I heard a snort from the other end of the room, but I ignored it. I settled down in my seat, preparing for a long, boring afternoon staring at the walls, when someone whispered in my ear from behind me, making me jump.

"Hello Querida." I gasped and turned around. Jesse was sitting on top of the desk behind me, grinning. I quickly looked back to see if Sister Ernestine was watching us, but she was engrossed in her bible, mouthing the words she was reading. I looked at Jesse again, then hissed,

"Jesse, what are you doing here? We're not allowed to talk! You're gonna get me in even more trouble!" Although, of course, I was ecstatic that he showed up. When was I not happy to see Jesse? What I was really thinking was: _I'm saved from the monotony!! And Paul Slater!! Yay!! _Speak of the devil, Paul glanced over at me, then did a double take. He stared at Jesse and me, his jaw dropped in shock and anger. Jesse glared back and put his arm around me possessively. I leaned back in my chair, resting my head against Jesse's shoulder and smiling contentedly. Paul looked over at Sister Ernestine, about to say something, but thought better of it. I mean, what could she do? She can't see Jesse; she doesn't know he's here. Score! My day was so totally starting to look up.

"So, Susannah, what are you doing in a classroom alone with Slater?" Jesse asked me, raising an eyebrow.

"We're not alone, Sister Ernestine is here too. And if you must know, I'm in detention. I fell asleep in class. And we're not supposed to talk...which was fine with me, because I definitely don't want to talk to Paul, but I shouldn't talk to you either. I'd get in trouble, not to mention it would sound like I'm talking to myself. Which it probably sounds like I'm doing now..." This is great. I ramble even when I whisper. "...so I really can't talk, I'm sorry Jesse."

"He chuckled, and said, "Fine, I won't talk to you." He took his arm from around my shoulders, and started to stand up, like he was about to leave.

"Wait!" I said, forgetting to whisper. Sister Ernestine looked up disapprovingly.

"Wait for what, Susannah? I believe I told you not to talk."

"Sorry, Sister." I said, trying to make it look as if I really was sorry. As soon as she lowered her head back down, I hissed at Jesse again.

"Don't leave! I'm so bored! Just because I can't talk doesn't mean you have to leave!" I sounded like I was groveling, but I didn't care. Paul rolled his eyes at me and sighed exasperatedly, as Jesse laughed and sat back down.

"Well, what do you propose I do, Querida, if you're not going to talk to me?" He said with a smile on his face. I shrugged, and leaned back in my chair to get closer to him without turning around, which Sister Ernestine definitely wouldn't approve of. Jesse put his arms around me from behind, and kissed me on the forehead as I leaned my head back onto his chest. Paul started making gagging sounds from across the room, causing all three of us (Me, Jesse, and Sister Ernestine) to look at him in alarm.

"Mr. Slater, for heaven's sake, are you all right?" Sister Ernestine cried, jumping up from her seat.

"Sorry, Sister, I just feel horribly—_sickened_—all of a sudden." He said, glaring at me and Jesse as he said the word sickened. I gave Paul a very rude gesture with my finger while Sister Ernestine had her back turned, and he smirked at me.

The rest of the afternoon went on in much the same fashion, with Paul trying to distract me from Jesse without Sister Ernestine noticing. He didn't have much luck; nothing could ever distract me from Jesse, especially when he was holding me. As soon as we were released from prison, I bolted out the door before Paul could get to me, dragging Jesse along.

"You wanna walk me home?" I asked him hopefully. "I know you don't live there anymore, but..." Jesse shut me up with a kiss that sent shivers all along my spine.

"I would love to walk you home, Querida."

**Sorry if it's bad...but I want to know if it is, so please review!**


	2. Confession

**Alright. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you all are awesome!! Here's chapter 2, hope you like it!**

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The second I walked through the front door, I shot up the steps to my room and collapsed on my frilly pink bed. Thank God my mom didn't see me come in, because I know she would have ambushed me with questions about why I didn't come home after school. I don't think she'd appreciate hearing about how I got detention, even though it was a perfectly good excuse for being late. I sat up and looked out the window at the beautiful ocean view, then jumped and nearly screamed as someone materialized right in front of the window where I was staring.

"Jesse, don't do that! You scared me half to death—oops, I mean...sorry, that wasn't very tactful...what are you doing here anyways? Didn't I just say goodbye to you outside?"

"I missed you, Querida." He replied in that soft, silky voice, sitting down on the window seat. What can I say? I melted. I had to restrain myself from screaming and jumping on him right there; that probably wouldn't have been a very good idea...instead, I walked over to the window and kissed him lightly. He pulled me down onto his lap, and we had just started a heavy-duty make out session, when...

"Suze! Phone!" I groaned, and walked over to my nightstand and picked up the phone.

"Yeah?" OK, I know it wasn't very polite, but I was kind of ticked off. Well, you would be too if you were interrupted at a time like that. Then I brightened as I heard the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, hey Cee...Yeah, I'm just a little angry...Yeah, Mr. O'Rourke gave me detention...Actually it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be...oh hold on, I'll ask." I went to my bedroom door, and stuck my head out.

"Hey mom! Can I sleep over at CeeCee's tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll drive you after dinner."

"Cee? My mom says that's fine. I'll be over after dinner, around seven? 'Kay, bye." I hung up the phone, and turned back to the window seat, only to find Jesse was gone. Damn! Oh well, It's not like I'm gonna be hanging around here alone tonight pining for him or anything...Oh, who am I kidding? I'm always pining for Jesse! I sighed and walked down to dinner.

* * *

"So how was detention 'not that bad'? I mean, its _detention_! Well, I wouldn't really know how bad it is, because I've never been there, but still!" We were sitting in CeeCee's kitchen in our pajamas, eating giant bowls of ice cream sundaes.

"I dunno." I replied vaguely. "It just wasn't as bad as detentions I've had before." I looked at CeeCee's skeptical face, and groaned inwardly. "OK, Cee. You know what? I'm gonna tell you the truth." I looked down at my ice cream. "Can we take these up to your room?"

"Yeah, sure." She replied, looking confused. "What do you mean, the truth? The truth about detention?"

"Just wait." When we got to her room, we sat down on her bed across from each other, and I took a deep breath and began.

"Remember last week when you asked me if Jesse was a ghost? Well, you were right. I'm what's called a mediator. I can see, hear, speak to, and even touch, the dead. Ghosts." I told her everything, from my dad still visiting me sometimes to the psychic I went to in New York. I told her about all the ghost cases that she helped me on without knowing it, all the weird behavior that I could never explain, even the real reason that I hate Paul. When I was finished, she stared at me in shock, her forgotten sundae dripping onto her lap, completely melted. She finally spoke,

"Well, if I didn't know you that well, I'd say you were freakin' insane. But I have seen some pretty weird shit going on around you, and I don't think you're that good of a story teller to make all this up. As crazy as it sounds, I believe you." I smiled, relieved.

"You know, you're the first person who I've ever told."

"Aw, thanks. You've decided to tell me all about your crazy life before anyone else. That's so sweet!" She grinned and I hit her with a pillow. "Now, I want all the details: _Who's Jesse?_ You said he was a ghost, but I want to know everything!"

"Well, you kind of already do...remember the body they found buried in my backyard last summer?" She gasped and looked at me, her violet eyes opened wide.

"NO! Are you serious? _THAT'S_ Jesse?!?"

"Yup." I nodded.

"Wow, no wonder you were so upset about it. So that whole story you made me print in the Pine Cone, that was all true? I thought that guy's name was Hector."

"That's his real name, but all his friends and family called him Jesse."

"Wow." She said again. "So, is he cute?"

"Are you kidding me? He's the hottest guy I've ever seen in my life! Too bad I'm the only one who _can_ see him...except for Paul. And Father Dom."

"I still can't believe my principal can see ghosts. That's insane! So that's why you're always being called into the office, not because you're a troublemaker."

"Well, I still am a troublemaker. Remember the whole detention thing?" I said, grinning.

"Oh yeah, what was up with that? You decided to tell me all this after I mentioned it..." CeeCee replied.

"Well, as you know, I wasn't the only one in detention this afternoon. Paul is still serving his punishment for last week. So I was getting ready for the worst afternoon of my life, when Jesse showed up. Sister Ernestine couldn't see him of course, but I got to make Paul mad, and there was nothing he could do about it! It was actually lots of fun!" CeeCee rolled her eyes at me and smiled.

"Simon, you're crazy."

"Well, of course I am! I just told you I talk to ghosts!" I smirked.

"Oh yeah. So are you gonna tell Adam?" She asked.

"I think so. It's kind of hard to tell one of you anything without telling the other. Speaking of Adam, what's going on between you two?" We started gossiping a little more, then fell asleep at about one in the morning.

* * *

The next day after I got home, my mom told me I missed a call. She said the caller didn't leave his—yes, _his_—name, just a number to call him back. I was pretty sure I knew who it was, so of course I wasn't too excited about returning the call. Sure enough, on the other end of the phone, I heard a voice I've come to know so well—and not in a good way.

"Morning, Suze. I think it's about time you took me up on that offer of mine...what do you say you come over to my house later today? I'll show you how to do things you never thought you could." I groaned.

"Paul, that's gross." He chuckled, and said,

"Hey, I'm talking about shifting. You're the one with the dirty mind, sweetheart." Eew, I could almost see that arrogant smirk on his face.

"Ugh, don't call me that. Fine, I'll come over, but NO TOUCHING! Of any kind! Got it? I'm only doing this for Jesse, you know."

"Sure babe. See you at three?"

"Fine." I said again, rolling my eyes. This was going to be tons of fun, I could already tell.

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**OK, review please, tell me how you liked it! Or not, whichever. But if you didn't, please be nice about it...**


	3. Lesson 1: Surprises and Explanations

**Again, thanks to all the reviewers, you make me feel good! : ) Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!**

**By the way, googleybear, it's the other way around...her real name _is_ Meg Cabot (I think Jenny Carroll was one of her pet cats) and I've read all the mediator books under the other name. : ) But thanks anyways!**

**Now, without further ado...here's chapter 3!******

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As we pulled up to Paul's giant house, I couldn't help thinking again what an incredible view it had. The house was made almost entirely of glass, and it was set high on a cliff looking over the clear blue ocean and perfectly yellow sand. As much as I hated to admit it, I wouldn't mind hanging out here so much. I mean, even if I hated their guts, the Slaters sure were loaded. My mom must have been thinking something along the same lines, because she gasped and asked confusedly,

"Susie, honey, are you sure this is the right place?" I laughed at the look of surprise on her face, and said,

"Yeah, Mom, this is Paul's house." Rolling my eyes, I elaborated, "What can I say, he's filthy rich!"

"So what are you working on again?"

"Um, he's tutoring me in trigonometry." Just then Paul came out of the house and sauntered over to our car, on hand in the pocket of his designer jeans. My mom started looking like all of her dreams (for me, at least) had come true.

"Well Susie, have a nice time! When should I come pick you up?" Paul grinned and replied before I could speak.

"Oh, no worries, Mrs. Ackerman. I'll drive Suze home." I sighed and got out of the car slowly.

"OK, bye Mom." I turned and followed Paul up the steps to his house.

* * *

As soon as we came into his room, I walked over to the giant window, feeling as if I was being drawn there by some unseen force. The enormous expanse of blue sky and sea together was overwhelming, and even though somehow I felt like I would drown in the vast open space if I looked at it long enough, I couldn't tear my gaze away. I snapped out of my trance, however, when I heard the door close behind me. The sound had a finality about it that made me start feeling a little uncomfortable. Well, I should say a little _more_ uncomfortable, because I hadn't been feeling too hot about this whole situation in the first place.

"So what did you tell your mom? Not the truth, I'm presuming."

"I told her you were tutoring me in trig...shut up!" I glared at the amusement on his face. "Let's just get this over with so I can go home." Paul looked at me in mock reproach.

"Now Suze, that's not a good attitude! How are you ever going to learn anything if you don't think positively?"

"I told you before; I don't particularly want to learn anything from you." I replied acidly. He sighed, and said,

"I can see this won't be easy..."

"Damn straight!"

"OK Suze, let's get one thing straight. As much as you don't believe me, I actually want you to learn this stuff. So can you please cooperate for one freaking second so I can do this right?" Only he didn't say freaking. I looked at him, and saw that he was serious. I rolled my eyes, but didn't reply, and he took that as a sign of consent.

"Now, let's get down to business. You already know the basics of shifting...that is, you know how to shift to and from the shadowland. You also know about the killer post-shifting headaches." He added with a smile. "But there's so much more to being a shifter than just that. This is what I'm eventually going to teach you. Now all I'm going to do today is fill you in on the differences between a mediator and a shifter, and give you an overview of the basic shifter abilities. Next time, if you're a real good girl, maybe I'll let you try some." Ugh, there he goes again with the innuendo. Does this guy ever stop flirting? Of course not, what am I saying? Paul obviously knows he's hot, and I'm sure all his lame lines have worked on every other girl he meets. But I'm not every other girl. I am not going to fall for Paul Slater's charms. I looked at him, and decided to humor him and play along.

"OK, fine Paul. What are the differences between a shifter and a mediator?" I asked in a bored tone. I figured, if I have to do this, I might as well learn something while I'm at it. I mean, it's not like anyone else is willing—or able—to explain all this to me. Paul seems to be all I have, as scary as that thought is. While I was thinking this, Paul went over to his bed and pulled out the old newspaper clippings about Dr. Slaski again.

"Well, mediators are only able to see, hear, and touch ghosts. We shifters, however, are much different. We have very ghost-like abilities; almost like living ghosts ourselves, if that makes any sense. We possess the ability to materialize and dematerialize like ghosts, and even appear invisible at times. We are also able to sort of communicate telepathically, and read people's minds, to an extent." I was now staring at Paul with my mouth hanging open, completely shocked. He's gotta be kidding, right? Right?

"I'm not kidding, Suze." Paul said, grinning at the complete and utter shock on my face.

"You—you _read_ my _mind_?" I stuttered.

"No, actually shifters can't read each others minds. They're blocked off. It was just so apparent what you were thinking." I was still pretty speechless. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say. Then I realized that I probably looked like a fish, and that definitely wasn't very attractive. I settled with saying, "Blocked off?" Oh, smart, Suze. Real smart. Paul was still grinning, obviously pleased that his words had such an effect on me.

"Well, I guess I should start from the beginning. OK, shifters have what might be referred to as a 'sixth sense'." I snorted, thinking of the movie.

"I see dead people!" I said in a fake scared whisper. "No DUH, Paul." He rolled his eyes at me.

"That's not what I meant. We are very susceptible to the emotions of others. And with the young, and the weak or easily impressionable, that turns into mind reading. Usually not word for word, obviously, but basic ideas. The reason shifters can't read each others minds, is because we're stronger than the average person. I told you that it works best on weak and impressionable people; well it doesn't work at all on really strong people. And shifters are just about the strongest people you're gonna find. Now, all this ties into the communicating telepathically thing. Shifters can 'send' their thoughts out, per say, and other shifters pick them up. Get it?"

I looked at him blankly. "Not really."

"Okay. You get that shifters can't read each others thoughts, right?" I nodded. "Well I should have added, 'unless they want each other to'. They can unblock _certain _thoughts so that other shifters can read them. You know, the whole mind reading thing? !" Comprehension dawned.

"Ooh. Does it really work?" He laughed.

"Of course. Would I have mentioned it if it didn't?"

"Probably." I said under my breath. "Anyways, what else did you say?" I was really curious now. I mean, think of the possibilities!

"Well, materialization and dematerialization is simple enough. It's just like shifting, except you're shifting to another place on earth, as opposed to the shadowland. What takes practice is shifting your whole body, not just your soul."

"And you mentioned something about invisibility?" I asked, now positively intrigued.

"Yeah, but that's a little more advanced. I'm not even gonna talk about that today." He grinned mischievously. "Are you still dreading your lessons?"

"Shut up, Paul. This doesn't change the way I feel about you. Now, are we done for today?" He looked at me intently for a second, then said,

"Yeah, sure. I'll drive you home."

* * *

In his car driving home, I thought of something. Why is Paul so eager to teach me? I mean, I've made it pretty clear that I don't like him, and never will. Is he still hoping to change my mind? Or does he have other plans? Well, at least these little meetings won't be as bad as I thought they would. He didn't even try to make a move on me...at least not today. **[A/N: Could that be...foreshadowing? Hmmm...]** All in all, that afternoon gave me a lot to think about.

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**OK, you know the drill. R & R, please!**


	4. Lesson 2: Getting Started

**Hello all. Sorry this took so long...school started. Ugh.**

**Pens in Potatoes- Don't worry, they will...sooner or later.**

**Word of warning: This chapter is not that exciting. It's kind of a filler chapter. But I hope you like it anyways. Alrighty, then. Here's chapter four!**

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"...and then, he said he wasn't leaving until _I_ was dead too, so obviously I had no choice but to kick his ass."

"Obviously." CeeCee cut in, mocking me. It was lunch time on Monday, and I was telling CeeCee and Adam about my first encounter with a really violent ghost. I had filled Adam in on everything that I had told CeeCee when we all went to the beach on Sunday, and he thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. I didn't find my life half as funny, but there's Adam for you. So since then, I had been entertaining them with my New York mediation stories.

"Shut up." I replied, very wittily, I might add. Not. "He wasn't that hard to beat, either, even though I was only ten. One good kick in the chest changed his mind about me, and after that he left me alone."

"You were _ten_? Jeez, remind me again never to mess with you, Suze." Adam said, shuddering.

"Hey, Adam? Don't ever mess with me." I scowled at him playfully, and he pretended to hide behind CeeCee. Just then, Paul sauntered up to our table and sat down next to me. I groaned and scooted as far away from him as I could without falling off the bench, and CeeCee and Adam both glared at him.

"What's with you two?" He asked, looking confused.

"Oh, we were just thinking about how much of a dickhead you are." CeeCee replied pleasantly, and I snorted.

"Suze, what's up? Did you tell them...the truth?" Paul asked dubiously.

"Yeah, I did. Something wrong? Are you here on business or do you just want your ass kicked?"

"Well, I was just thinking that we should probably set up a specific time to have your lessons. You know, so you can avoid me as much as possible during school hours because we won't have to spend time talking about it." He grinned at me. "What do you say?"

"Sure, whatever." I sighed. "When were you thinking?"

"How about Mondays after school? I'll drive you."

"OK, fine...hey wait. Today's Monday!" I said.

"Yeah. Meet me out front after seventh period, OK?" And he was gone before I could reply. CeeCee looked at me curiously.

"Why do you put up with that? I mean, he's just making your life miserable."

"I told you, I'm keeping Jesse safe. There's no telling what Paul could—and would—do to Jesse if I don't keep him in check. Also, as much as I hate to admit it, a part of me is really curious. Paul is telling me that I could do all these amazing things, and I kind of want to find out if it's true."

"Yeah, well, if you don't watch out, Paul will want you to do some other things too, if you know what I'm saying." Adam scowled. I laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, _dad_. I'm a tough little girl. I can take care of myself." I said it to reassure Adam and CeeCee, but deep down, I wanted to reassure myself, too. _I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself_. I sincerely hoped that was true.

* * *

Wow. Déja-vu. Wasn't I just here? It was 2:45 in the afternoon, and I was back in Paul Slater's room. Everything was exactly the same as it had been before; no clothes on the floor, no papers out of place, if it weren't for the fact that there was no dust anywhere, I would say that nobody ever set foot into this place. Was Paul just a really, really clean person? I guess so. Paul looked at me.

"What are you thinking so intently?"

"I could never, ever be this organized! How do you keep your room so spotless?" I asked.

"I just like my things to be neat and organized. I always know where everything is, and if there's no mess, I don't have to clean anything up." Why did I get the feeling that he wasn't just talking about his room? I dismissed it, however, and sat down on the edge of his giant gray bed.

"So, O Great and Glorious Shifter, what are we learning today?" I joked, braiding my hair absently. Paul grinned at what I called him, and suddenly disappeared from my sight. I gasped, and looked frantically around his room. Then I screamed as I heard a voice in my ear coming from on the bed behind me.

"Today, we're going to work on materializing." Paul whispered. I whirled around and glared at him. I acted angry because I didn't want him to know how much he scared me...and impressed me. Even though I hated my teacher—I did hate him, right?—I really was excited to learn this.

"Ok, like I told you before, there's not really much to materializing. Just picture the place you want to shift to, and you're there. The only thing you have to remember is to shift your whole body. To do that you have to really concentrate on your physical body, your skin, your hair, whatever. When you're just beginning, it helps to pinch yourself or something, and concentrate on the pain. As you know, while your soul knows pain, it can't physically feel it; thinking about it will help you concentrate on your body while shifting." It didn't sound very easy to me, but what the hell. I'd give it a try. I pinched myself in the arm, and thought about Paul's dresser on the other side of the room. Suddenly I found myself sitting on it, facing him. I looked down, and saw that I had taken my whole body with me. I looked up, smiling in relief and excitement, and saw that the look on Paul's face mirrored mine exactly.

"See, Suze? You're a much more powerful shifter than you think. I couldn't even do that on my first try! That was awesome!" My smile grew, and I forgot my misgivings about my host for a second.

"Really? You think so?" I asked excitedly. Paul nodded, and said,

"Try again." I did, and ended up with my body slumped on the floor in front of the dresser, and my ghost—or soul, technically—standing dejectedly by the huge walk-in closet. Paul smirked, but told me that it takes practice to get it right every time. I materialized back into my body, and woke up with an awful headache. I groaned, and looked to Paul, who explained.

"The headache happens every time your soul is separated from your body, not just when you shift to the Shadowland. Your body can't live without your soul for long, so when they're separated it's painful. So normally materializing and dematerializing won't give you the headaches, unless you make a mistake and shift out of your body, like you just did."

I made a few more successful materializations that afternoon, but still went home with a pounding head, wondering what we were going to work on next week.

* * *

**OK, you can stop throwing things now. This story does have a plot, I swear! I promise next chapter will be much more exciting...I might even end it on a cliffhanger...I've always wanted to write one! Haha I know I'm a loser. Don't worry, we'll get to the good stuff soon...unless you don't review, then I might not write another chapter at all! So review. NOW.**

**By the way, my birthday is tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 11) in case anyone cares...which I know you don't, but I'm excited about it. I'm finally gonna be 16!!!!**


	5. Lesson 3: Unexpected Discoveries

**Bonjour mes amies!! J'ai écrire la chapitre cinq!! Voilà!! Hahaha sorry, just practicing my _français_...**

**Translation: Good day my friends!! I have written chapter five!! Here it is!! Well, at least I think that's what it says...see, this is why I need to practice my french. Because it sucks. And yes, I'm in IB French 1...my fourth year of the language. And I still can't speak it at all. Haha, story of my life. Uum, anyways...I'll shut up now.**

* * *

When I got home, my mom interrogated me about where I had been, and when I told her, she switched gears at the speed of light and started questioning me about Paul. Even though she was trying to be stern, I could tell that she was happy about me spending time with him. Although she had no idea what the "tutoring lessons" really were, or that I actually hated Paul Slater's guts. After what seemed like an hour, I escaped to my room, and collapsed on my bed, exhausted. Plus I still had that awful pounding in my brain and my ears were ringing. I just wanted to lie down in my bed and never get up. But when do I ever get to do what I want to in life? I was interrupted (of course) from my blissful slumber by—what else—a ghost. Keeping my eyes closed, I yelled,

"Leave me alone!" A familiar voice chuckled, and I sat up, gingerly rubbing my head. It was my dad.

"Well, hey to you too, sweetie." He joked, sitting down next to me on my bed.

"Oh my god, you show up at the most inconvenient times, Dad! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep? What do you want?" I know it was rude, but hey. I was tired, and groggy, and in pain.

"I heard that you have been spending a considerable amount of time lately with a boy...a boy that I haven't met yet. I think I might just have to check this guy out for you."

"What are you talking about? Wait...do you mean...hah! No way! Are you talking about _Paul_? Dad, I am not dating Paul Slater. I hate him, actually." I thought about what he said for a moment, and then added, "By the way, you won't be able to spy on him anyways, 'cause he's a mediator too. He can see you." My dad looked surprised, and then grinned mischievously.

"That makes it even better. I can have a little _chat_ with him tomorrow." I groaned.

"DAD! I won't be doing anything like that with Paul! He is _not_ my boyfriend! I told you, I hate him!"

"Then why do you keep going over to his house?" He saw the look of exasperation on my face, and said, "I'm just looking out for you, Suzie."

I groaned louder, and flopped back down onto my bed. This is just _great_. Paul will get a kick out of my dad coming to have the father-boyfriend talk...not only will he find it hilarious, but I'm sure it will only encourage him to come after me even more. He'll probably think I told my dad that I liked him or something. However, after my dad disappeared, I had a more disturbing thought: How did my dad find out? I know ghosts can spy on people, and they can probably learn a lot, but if my dad knew, did that mean that Jesse might know too? I still hadn't told him about the shifting lessons, because I know he'd freak. But what if he already knew? What if he was waiting for me to tell him...or if he was trying to see how I would defend myself if he confronted me? _Oh, shit._ This was not good. But I was jumping to conclusions. Jesse probably still had no idea, right? _Right._ I thought to myself firmly. There was no use in worrying about it now. My head hurt too much. I decided to go back to sleep and think about it when—no, _if_—it came up later.

* * *

By the time next Monday rolled around, everything seemed normal. Jesse was completely fine with me, and hadn't hinted that he knew anything about the lessons. I didn't see him as often as I was used to, but of course that was because I still wasn't used to him living at the rectory. I still saw him often enough, and I was happy with that. Paul was waiting for me at the entrance to the school on Monday afternoon, and I reluctantly hopped into his convertible, looking furtively around to make sure Jesse was nowhere near. Paul smirked at me as I buckled my seatbelt, and said,

"I had a nice visit with a certain Peter Simon a few days ago." **A/N: Suze's dad was named Peter, right? I think I'm right, but I'm too lazy to go look in the books.** I groaned and blushed, thinking that I had been completely right. Paul was totally taking this the wrong way. I'm sure my blush wasn't helping much, but that was something I couldn't control. I looked down at my feet—decked in the latest heels from Ferragamo that I bought with my leftover summer job cash—and replied,

"Um, yeah. About that. My dad's a little over protective with the boys I...am _acquainted_ with. He thinks they all want the same thing." I looked over at Paul, and then said under my breath, "Well, he was right about you." Paul laughed out loud at this—I guess shifters have super hearing too—and slid his arm around me. I shrugged him off angrily, and told him to drive.

* * *

"Today, I am going to teach you how to read minds. Sound like fun?" Paul asked with a twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes. I grinned despite myself, and said,

"Surprisingly, yes." He smiled, and began to talk. Now I won't bore you with all the details, because it was a whole lot of theory and shifter history, and stuff like that. I will say that by the end of my lesson, I had begun to pick up Paul's thoughts, and I could send my own out fairly well. All in all, I was feeling pretty impressed with myself, and I couldn't wait to go home and see if I could read my family's minds. Of course, I wouldn't _completely_ invade their privacy, but...hey, this stuff is fun! I was sitting on Paul's bed thinking about this while waiting for him to come back from the bathroom, when I heard it.

_Susannah Simon! Listen to me, we don't have much time._

I gasped and looked around, but there was no one there. I heard it again:

_Paul is not telling you everything you should know. Do not trust him._

Suddenly I realized that the voice was coming from inside my own head...it was a shifter! I was confused for a second, and then I remembered, Paul's grandfather was—_is_—a shifter! I replied,

_Dr. Slaski? Is that you?_

_Yes, now listen carefully. Paul has a collection of articles and research papers about shifting in a box under his bed—_

_Yeah, I know, I've seen them! _I answered.

_Not all of them. There are some papers in there you need to read. Paul isn't in the room now, is he?_

_No, he's in the bathroom._

_OK, I want you to take all the papers and go home and make copies of them._

_But won't he notice that they're gone? _I asked confusedly.

_I'll take care of that. Can you come back tonight to return them?_

_Um, yeah, sure. But how—_

_I'll make sure Paul is out of his room at exactly 10:05 pm. You must get the papers back by then, or he will know._

_Ok, I will._ I had no idea what was going on, but I decided to play along. Maybe Dr. Slaski was telling the truth. I was extremely curious, not to mention a little scared. He sounded pretty serious about the whole "Paul Slater is the Spawn of Satan, don't trust him" thing. I reached under the bed and took all the papers from the box, and hurriedly stuffed them into my backpack. Just then Paul came back into the room.

"Ready to go, Suze?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, lest I let something slip. I followed him wordlessly out to the car, and went home, deep in thought.

* * *

**Well, it wasn't a cliffhanger, but at least it was a little turn of events. Hope you liked it! REVIEWS PLEASE!**


	6. Readings, Restorations, and Realizations

**Thank you reviewers!**

**So here's Chapter 6. Sorry it took so long, but I have had tons of homework. Everyone says junior year is the hardest...yea they're totally right. Also, I have had a bit of writers block for this chapter. I know the outlines of what's going to happen in the story, but I have had a little bit of a problem putting it into words. So I'm really sorry if this chapter kind of sucks. I'm doing the best I can right now. **

* * *

I looked up at jagged cliffs looming ahead, upon which perched Paul's enormous house, and gulped. The whole place looked really eerie in the rapidly darkening night, and despite myself, I was freaked out. I glanced at my watch again. _7:40_. Why does time seem to go so much slower when you don't want it to? I sighed and started the uphill trek. I had taken the car out (I was allowed to now, I had my permit) telling Mom and Andy that I was going over to CeeCee's for a project, but I had decided to leave it at the bottom of the hill. It would definitely attract attention if I just drove up and parked in Paul's driveway. Yeah, that's a good idea, Suze.

I've been doing this sneaking around thing for so long, so you would think that I'm good at it, but for some reason, sneaking around Paul makes me really nervous. I feel like any second I'm going to mess something up, or trip, or get caught _It wouldn't surprise me if the Slaters had surveillance cameras pinned up around their property either_, I thought as I came up to the house. I probably looked like the biggest dork in the world, sneaking around on their lawn in my black ensemble, and my hair pulled back...gross, I know. Looking back, I don't know why I wasn't thinking any more profound thoughts than this, but for some reason when I get nervous, I start thinking a lot about my appearance. I guess it's because I have a pretty high chance of dying (the perks of the mediator business...I quite often find myself in situations where I have a high chance of dying.) and I don't want to look disgusting when somebody finds my body. I don't want to be known as the girl who died looking like crap. Heh. _7:55_. Five minutes. I tiptoed around to the back to peek in a window for any signs. I should have known I didn't need any, though.

**_Are you ready?_** Dr. Slaski's voice sounded in my head. I jumped, and then shook myself mentally. RELAX, stupid! It's not like you've never done anything like this before. _But this is different._ I thought warily, and then dismissed my crazy misgivings. Deep breaths, Suze.

**_Yeah, I'm ready._** I replied, still unconsciously looking around to make sure I was alone. I had the creepiest feeling that I was being watched...I waited impatiently for my cue, and after a couple of minutes, I heard it.

"Paul! Paul, come quick!" It was Dr. Slaski's day attendant, and he sounded pretty serious. For a second I panicked, thinking that something was going horribly wrong, and then I heard:

**_Hurry up, you fool. Before he comes back._** I gasped quietly, and hurriedly pinched myself. Concentrating, I shifted to Paul's room, and glanced around to make sure I was alone. I was. Paul's room looked the same. It always did. I ran over to the bed, and threw myself onto the ground next to it, reaching for the box. Thank God, it was still there, in the exact same spot that I left it when I took the papers in the first place. It was stupid, I know, but there were all these visions running through my head of the box being gone, me being found out, Paul's angry ice-blue eyes...I didn't know what he could—or would—do to me if he found me snooping around, and I sure as hell didn't want to find out. So as quickly as I could, I shoved all the papers back in the box, and dematerialized. I appeared in the Slaters huge backyard and started running as quietly as I could back to the car. Suddenly, I noticed a faint glowing lighting the way. I gasped and whipped around, looking for a flashlight. _Shit! I'm so busted!_ But nothing was there. Slowly—too slowly—realization dawned. I looked down at my body, and horror struck. I was glowing. _Uh-oh. _I had left my body in Paul's room. **A/N: I was so tempted to end the chapter here, because it seemed like a perfect cliffhanger, but then I looked back and realized I had only written a few paragraphs. So on with the story.**

I almost screamed—no one would hear me, I was technically a ghost, however temporary my situation was—but then I realized that wasn't true. Paul could hear me. I didn't want to make my situation any worse. Come to think of it, his grandfather could hear me too. Duh. I'm surrounded by freaking mediators. Screaming wouldn't do anything to help me. I forced myself to think clearly, and not panic. What did I need to do? Get my body back, obviously. Preferably before Paul notices my unconscious form on his bedroom floor. Now that would definitely require some serious explaining. I pictured his room in my head, and—thank god—I shifted back into my body, finding myself lying on the thick expensive carpet. And not a moment too soon. I heard footsteps, and I scooted under the bed and out of sight.

I heard Paul come back into his room and slam the door. Uh-oh. It sounded like he was mad. What would he do if I was caught? I decided to get out of there right away. But before I could dematerialize, I heard something that made me freeze. There was a sharp intake of breath, and then,

"Suze!" What?!?!? How could he know I'm here? He's not looking under the bed—

"He said 'she knows.'" Paul continued. Oh. He wasn't talking to me. That was close. Was there someone else in the room though, or had he finally just gone crazy? "Did he mean Suze? What does she know? She didn't find out about—oh shit! He's not serious?"

What the hell was going on? Why was Paul talking about me—to himself? Did 'he' mean his grandfather? There must be some reason that Paul doesn't want me to know about these papers...that is what he's talking about right? I decided I better get home right away and see what all this was about. I dematerialized—taking my body with me this time—and got home as quickly as possible.

* * *

Back in my room, I finally pulled out the articles and got started. Most of them are articles about—and clippings of—Egyptian customs and myths. Mediators—no. Shifters—that's just what Paul's been teaching me, so no. Witchcraft—now that's interesting, but no. Soul transference—wait. This was what Paul was talking about earlier. Does it really work? Could it help Jesse? Now this might be worth reading about. A whole lot of it was history, and complex mathematics, but the main ideas were very interesting.

_Soul transference dates back to the first shifters, in the time of the ancient Egyptians..._

_This is a very complex and dangerous process, and in order to perform it, you need to exorcise a soul from a living body—this process should only be performed as a last resort. Any exorcism will suffice for this to work, but the individual carrying it out must be well prepared and well trained..._

_After exorcising the offending soul, you must place the new soul into the body within 30 minutes, or the soulless body will die. _

Where am I going to find a body to transfer Jesse's soul into? Somehow, I don't think this soul transference thing is the answer. But, wait. "...place the new soul into the body"? Is there such a thing as a reverse exorcism? Could that work? But I still have the problem of finding a body. I decided to read on. Catholic exorcisms, Brazilian voodoo exorcisms, Wiccan exorcisms, mummifying, body restoration...Body restoration!

_The ancient Egyptians were very concerned with preserving their bodies when they passed on into the afterlife, or died. This was the reason for mummifying bodies, but this wasn't the only custom they performed. They also had a myth about restoring a dead body to its original state, almost bringing it back to life. Now a body can technically exist without a soul for a period of time, but not a very long one. So if you were to perform a body restoration, there would be no way to talk to the person, or even to keep them alive, unless they had a soul..._

The article went on, but I didn't pay much attention to the rest of it. If there was really a way to restore a dead body, and then re-enter a soul into that body—and these articles were saying there was—then this is the answer to all my problems! No wonder Paul didn't want me to know about all of this. He said he wanted me to know about the powers of shifting, but he really only wanted me to know about the powers that _he_ chose. Can you say controlling much? Well, plus he hates Jesse with a passion and doesn't want him to come back to life. Because then Jesse and I would have no problem being together. He could take me to the movies, and out to dinner, and I could introduce him to Mom and Andy and all my friends. I really think Paul just wants to make my life miserable by taking this away from me. And Paul doesn't like not getting what he wants. I would have to watch out for him. But also, I knew that I couldn't do all this alone...and I DEFINITELY was not asking Paul Slater for help. I decided that I would have to go see Father Dominic first thing in the morning.

* * *

**I apologize for the shortness, and the suckiness. I haven't been feeling too inspired lately, as I said earlier. Plus I'm sick. So if you could review to give me any ideas on how to improve this, or just how to get my mind out of the gutter, I would greatly appreciate it. Gracias Sinoritas.**


	7. Lesson 4: Temptation

**Wow, it's like 3:27 on a Monday afternoon (Columbus Day, it's a school holiday) and I'm home listening to Christmas music, drinking a hot mocha frappuccino, and writing. God, I'm so weird sometimes. If it weren't a holiday, I'd be at practice right now. I wouldn't get home until 7:30 at night. Yay for no school, man!**

**Merci bien, mes reviewers.**

**Pens in Potatoes: Yea I know what you mean. I don't know where you live, but there's definitely some sickness around where I live. Maybe there's an international bug going around that is making everyone in the world feel like crap. **

**UnangelicHalo: I don't know how to spell anything in Spanish...I take French. Haha sorry about that. **

**moovalous3: Haha yeah it actually took me a while to figure that out too...and I'm writing the story! lol.**

**aet1253( ): I actually didn't even realize Jesse wasn't in the story anymore...oops. Don't worry, I'm working on it. We all want more Jesse. ; )**

**Roomate153:** **Cool! I made someone's heart race! Well, that part was supposed to be suspensful, so I guess it worked. : )**

**Okay, this chapter is longer than my usual ones. (Yay!) So I hope you like it.**

* * *

"Suze! Suze, wake up!" I groaned, and rolled over. _Who would dare try to wake me up this early?!? _I mean, it's only...damn it, its 7:00!Great. I'm late again. **A/N: I don't know what time Suze's school starts, but I'd definitely be late if I woke up at 7:00** I jumped out of bed, narrowly missing squashing Doc, and stumbled over to my closet. Good thing I had taken a shower last night or I would be one gross looking girl today. I grabbed a pink tee and a white ruffle skirt, and groped my way to the bathroom, blinded by the light that was suddenly flooding my room. Five minutes later I emerged, looking perfect. Doc stared, and asked,

"Wow, how did you manage to get ready that fast?" I grinned, and ruffled his hair as I walked out the door.

"Years of practice, kid."

As we walked down to the car, I realized that I felt insanely happy for no reason. I mean, it was a Tuesday morning, and I had to go to school, so usually I would be a grouchy little bitch, but today was different for some reason. Then I remembered last night. The articles. _Jesse._ I have to talk to Father Dominic! I gasped, and screeched,

"We have to get to school right now!" Jake looked at me strangely.

"Um yeah, I know we're late, thanks to _someone_ sleeping in, but since when are you so worried about getting to school on time?"

"Just drive, please."

* * *

We got to school with a few minutes to spare, but since we had to go to assembly, I wouldn't be able to talk to Father Dom until after homeroom. _I can't wait that long! _I stared out at the courtyard while the assembly was going on, not listening to anything, until I heard my name.

"Miss Simon! Come here please." I looked up, and saw Sister Ernestine's angry face glaring at me. _Uh-oh._ She grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me into the office, saying,

"Have we not had this discussion before? Your skirt is much too short...again. I would have thought you had learned your lesson the last time around..." I thought of the last time this had happened, and almost laughed. Yeah, I probably should have learned my lesson the last time, considering I was almost murdered after I was sent home to change. Of course, Sister Ernestine didn't know that, but it was still pretty funny. I mean, it sounded like she was threatening me—like she'd murder me herself if I came to school again with a short skirt. Ha. "...however, this is not why I called you." I looked up, startled. "Father Dominic wishes to speak to you in his office. He said it was urgent. I will be waiting out here, however, to speak with you myself about your—ahem—choice of outfits when he is finished." I didn't listen to the rest. I bolted into Father Dom's office, startling him from the Furby he had obviously taken from a student. He was currently bashing said Furby against his desk.

"...stupid..." _slam_. "...thing..." _slam_. "...won't..." _slam_ "...shut...UP!" _slam._ **A/N: Heh. Furbys.**

"Father Dom!" I yelled, and he glanced up, looking sheepish. "Do you know anything about reverse exorcisms? Do they really work? Has anyone ever done one? Hmm, I wonder what they would be called anyways...Endorcisms? Haha, it sounds like some weird form of exercise, like Jazzercise. Everyone Endorcise now!" I broke off. Wow, can you say babbling? But hey, can you blame me? I was excited. Father D blinked, obviously overwhelmed.

"Could you ask that again Susannah? A little slower this time, please." I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, and sank down into a chair opposite his desk.

"Do you know anything about _reverse_ exorcisms?" He blinked again, and said,

"Well, I've never heard of it before...why do you ask?" I pulled the article out of my bag and handed it to him. He skimmed it quickly, looked up at me, and then looked back at the paper in his hand. "Oh my. Where did you get this?" I grinned.

"Oh, nowhere important. So what do you think?"

"Well, technically, there seems to be no reason why it wouldn't work...but why are you giving me this? Is there some reason..."

"Hold on. Check this one out too." I gave him the papers on body restoration, and sat back in my chair. He looked surprised. No, surprised would be an understatement. He looked shocked.

"Susannah! You can't possibly be thinking..." I smiled mischievously and nodded. Father D sighed. "Susannah, we've been over this before. There must be some reason Jesse is still here, and you are supposed to be finding out what that is and helping him move on, not bringing him back to life."

"But I know why he's still here! It's because of me! He loves me, and I love him. This is what's meant to be."

"But Susannah—"

"I don't want to hear it. I am going to do this with or without your help, Father Dom. I know this is the reason Jesse has been on Earth for so long...I am helping him by doing this." I replied, looking completely sure of myself. Father Dominic sighed again—he seemed to do that quite a lot around me—looking resigned.

"Fine. I will help—if only so you don't mess it up yourself. Of course I want Jesse to be happy, but I think the only way is to let him move on by himself."

"What about me? Don't you want me to be happy?" I asked.

"Of course I do, but this is your job. You are supposed to help the ghosts, and put yourself—and your happiness—second."

"But I _would_ be making a ghost happy. This is what he wants, too."

"Have you talked to Jesse about this?"

"No, actually, I was thinking I wanted it to be a surprise." I bit my lip, looking hopefully at Father Dominic.

"Fine." He said again.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I squealed, jumping up and down. I started to leave, and then sat back down. "Wait. What did you want to see me about in the first place?" Father Dom looked confused for a second, then replied,

"Oh, that. Well I met a new ghost this morning, and thought that she was more your type of project. I thought you might like to meet her." I sighed inwardly. I didn't need any more 'projects'. My life was complicated enough already. I only said, however,

"Um, can it wait? I have to get back to class." He rolled his eyes, and said,

"Yes, go." I turned to leave, and I could have sworn I heard, "Since when have you been so concerned with getting to class?" What?!? Why does everybody keep saying that to me? Am I really always that late? Wait, don't answer that. I sighed exasperatedly, and left the office. I started walking back to class, when I heard,

"Miss Simon! Not so fast, if you please." Argh. Sister Ernestine. Dang it, I had forgotten. Woohoo, now I get a long lecture. But not only that, before she let me go back to class, I had to pick a pair of pants to wear the rest of the day because my skirt was "a completely inappropriate length" and it made me "look like a prostitute." Well, thanks a bunch, Sister. That's always nice to hear about my newest designer purchase. But that wasn't the worst part. The only pair of pants that were long enough to fit me (most of them looked like they belonged to a five year old) were overalls. Yeah, that's right, overalls. I felt like such a loser walking through school with those on. Like a mechanic, or a construction worker, or something. But really, even that little incident couldn't squash my good mood. _Jesse and I were going to be together forever_!! Suddenly, nothing else in the world seemed important. Nothing could make me unhappy today. Ironically, just as I was thinking that, who happened to show up? Yeah, you guessed it. Paul. I looked up at the sky, and yelled,

"Haha. Very funny. You know, whoever you are, you have a really twisted sense of humor." Paul looked at me like I was crazy. Well, I'm sure I looked crazy. I was in a pink baby tee and _overalls_, for crying out loud, and I was yelling at the sky. Carmel Insane Asylum, here I come.

"So Suze, I was thinking..."

"Oh, really? Congratulations! I'm so proud of you, Paul!" Lame, I know, but hey. The opportunity was staring me in the face. I couldn't resist.

"Ooh, look who's trying to be the clown today. You sure look the part." Paul retorted.

"Hey! Now that wasn't very nice. I can't help my choice of outfits." Paul grinned, and said,

"Yeah, I know, I heard about your little...um, situation. And I must say that skirt that you were wearing this morning was pretty hot." He winked, and I glared at him.

"Shut up, loser. Now what did you want?"

"Well, I can't make our lesson next Monday, because I'm going back to Seattle to visit my parents." Yes! No lesson next week! Yippee, no Paul! "So I was thinking we could have it tomorrow instead." Damn it. "Are you busy?"

"No..."

"Great! Meet me in our usual spot." He sauntered off, and I shuddered. It made me sick to think that Paul and I had a 'usual' anything, except maybe a 'usual' hatred towards each other. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it, right? And it's only for a little while longer. Soon, Jesse won't be able to be exorcised any more. I smiled, and walked off.

* * *

"Okay, you now know all the basic shifter powers, but your technique still needs some work." It was Wednesday afternoon, and I had just had the worst day of my life. I failed a history essay test, I spilled coffee all over my white tank top, and I had gotten into a verbal bitch fight with Debbie Mancuso. And my day wasn't looking much better...I was back in Paul's room.

"My technique needs work?" I laughed. "Paul, it's not a sport or a dance move or anything. My _technique_?"

"You know what I mean." He grinned and threw a pillow at me. "Now don't be a smart ass, I'm trying to teach here." I rolled my eyes, but listened. "Okay, like I was saying before I was so_ rudely_ interrupted..." I smirked at him. "...you know how to do everything, but you need practice. What if you need to get away from somewhere quickly? It wouldn't be a good idea to leave your body behind." Oh my God. Did he know what happened on Monday?!?! Is he playing with my mind? Or was that just a coincidence... "So that's what we're going to be working on today. Shifting under pressure." Okay. I don't think he knows. I think I'm still safe.

"How are you going to manage that? I don't really feel any pressure to get away now. It's not like you're trying to kill me or anything." Hmm, I hope I'm not giving him any ideas.

"I'll do the best I can." He replied. I gasped, and then realized he meant creating situations, not trying to kill me. Well, you never know with Paul Slater.

For the next 20 minutes or so, I practiced dematerializing to different parts of Paul's room, trying to imagine myself in the positions he put me in. I could tell I was getting better; I hadn't missed one yet. In one particular scenario, I was being chased by a crazy guy with a knife that had just killed my best friend, and I materialized next to Paul's door. After doing the same thing nine times, I had it down pat. Paul walked towards me, saying,

"You've got it, Suze. I think you've really got it! Great job." I smiled.

"Thanks. Yeah, it feels like I know what I'm doing..." I trailed off. Paul was still walking towards me, getting closer. I started feeling a little uncomfortable. He was way too close now. He was standing right in front of me. I could feel the heat from his body and his breath on my face. I was very aware of his form close to mine, and I realized that I was breathing very fast. I was nervous.

"Yeah, you've got it, Suze." He whispered.

"Paul..." I said uncomfortably. This was not a fun situation. Yeah, sure he was an A-list hottie, and God knows he was a great kisser, but my heart—and my lips—belonged to Jesse DeSilva. And now there was no reason why we couldn't be together. I think the last time that I gave in to Paul's kiss was because, deep down, I knew that my relationship with Jesse could never work. I think, subconsciously, I really did want all of those things that Paul had said, and I wanted a boyfriend that could give them to me. At the time, that was Paul's appeal. But now, there is no reason for me to fall for Paul Slater. Soon I will have a boyfriend that can give me everything I want. So when Paul kissed me, I was able to fend off my hormones. Sure, his kiss was amazing—gentle, sweet, yet still fiery—but I kept my mind in check. I concentrated, and dematerialized. I appeared on the other side of Paul's room, sitting on his blue La-Z-Boy **A/N: Is that how you spell it?** Paul looked confused for a second, probably because he had just found himself kissing his door. Heh. He looked around, and spotted me on the other side of the room. I cocked my eyebrow and said,

"The agreement was that you'd keep your hands to yourself, Paul." He laughed, and replied,

"But I wasn't using my hands." I glared at him. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But hey, just think of it as passing the final test. Your shifting abilities saved you the trouble of gouging my eyes out again." I smirked, remembering the last time he kissed me. If only I had really gouged his eye out...I know, I know, that's really gross. "Alright, fine, lesson over. Do you trust me to drive you home, or would you prefer to _walk_ again?" I sighed.

"Fine. You may drive me home. Just don't touch me...at all. With any part of your body." Eew, that came out wrong. Judging by the grin on Paul's face, he thought the same thing. Hey, I meant his lips, people! It just...oh, shut up.

When we got to my house, I got out of his convertible and slammed the door. I started to walk up the driveway, and I heard,

"What, no goodbye, Suze?" I turned around, and said frostily,

"Good_bye_ Paul." Hmm, I liked the sound of that. It had a sort of finality about it...like I was saying goodbye for good. God, I hoped so. I walked up to my room and opened the door, and had a pleasant surprise. Jesse was sitting on my window seat, like he always used to before he moved out. I dropped my backpack, walked straight over to him, and kissed him. We broke apart a few seconds later, and he asked,

"Bad day?" I sat down next to him.

"The worst." I lay my head on his shoulder, and he put his arms around me. "It will all be over in a little while though." I added quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I smiled, and said,

"Oh, I'm just working on a really tough project." Yeah, you could say that. I smiled secretly and said, "I'll show it to you when I'm done. Hopefully that will be pretty soon."

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**Hmm, that was a pretty sucky ending, but I couldn't think of what else to write. And sorry for the posting delay, but my stupid internet stopped working for about 2 weeks and this is the first time I could get on. It's been driving me INSANE. Alright, so there it is. I actually like this chapter for once. So I hope you do too...lots of reviews, please. Review even if you didn't like it...I won't mind hearing some criticism.**


	8. Concerning Birthdays

**I know it's been over two months since my last update…don't hate me please! There's just been a lot going on. Hmm, what has happened since the last time I updated?? In chronological order:**

**1. The BOSTON REDSOX WON THE WORLD SERIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 86 YEARS!!!!! Next year it's Chicago's turn. Really. I mean it. I have full confidence in my Cubbies. : )**

**2. George W. Bush is president AGAIN…sigh. Only 4 more years, only 4 more years…**

**3. DC United won the 2004 MLS Cup!!! That's AWESOME!! Yay for my (almost) hometown!**

**4. I got onto a competition jazz dance team for school**

**5. I got my first C EVER on a report card…damn IB French!**

**6. My high school football team is the VA state runner-up…next year we'll win!**

**7. Andy Roddick lost the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston… : (**

**8. I got a 1400 on my PSATs…that's wild. I guessed on like every single question…hmm, I guess I'm a good guesser.**

**9. Christmas! Yay!**

**10. I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE!!! YEP THAT'S RIGHT, I'M FREEEE!!**

**11. 2005, baby!**

**12. And…I have been procrastinating writing this story because I had writers block again. But now it's up, so enjoy!**

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Thursday morning, I was sitting at the breakfast table eating my cheerios, when my mom asked me a surprising question.

"So what do you want for your birthday, Suzie?" My birthday? Wow…my birthday is in 3 days! With all the excitement concerning Jesse, it had completely slipped my mind. But seriously, how could I have forgotten my own birthday? I'm turning SEVENTEEN!

"Actually, I haven't thought much about it." I said truthfully.

"Really? That's surprising. You're turning seventeen…I would think that would be a pretty big deal, sweetie." I rolled my eyes.

"I know, mom. It is a big deal. I've just been a little preoccupied lately."

"Yeah, with her boyfriend." Brad said as he walked into the kitchen. He was dressed only in pajama pants and his hair was all messed up. I tried not to laugh—because I would have spit up all my cereal, which would have been really gross—but he just looked so funny. That is, until I realized what he said. My mom looked at me, raising her eyebrows.

"Her _boyfriend_?" She asked. I shot a death glare at Brad.

"I don't know what he's talking about, mom." Brad looked at me like I was stupid. Yeah, right. _I'm_ the stupid one?

"Don't play dumb, Suze. I know you went to Paul's house again yesterday." I sighed exasperatedly.

"He's tutoring me, moron. You should know what a tutor is. You've certainly had enough of them."

"Ha, ha. If you need help so badly, why don't you get the freak to tutor you? She's a genius, right?"

"Brad, watch it." My mom cut in sternly. "And I think it's sweet that Suzie made a new friend." Brad choked on his cereal, and milk came dribbling down his chin. Um, ew. Now I'm _really_ glad I didn't do that. It is completely repulsive.

"Eat much?" I shot at him. "Seriously, that's disgusting. And mom, it's not _sweet_ that I'm hanging out with Paul. I told you, I hate the guy." She looked at me, as if to say, _yeah, right._

I groaned and stalked out of the room, muttering, "Why do I even bother?"

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The next couple of days crawled by. I was eager to get started on the soul transference-body restoration-exorcism-whatever-it-was, but when I asked Father D about it, he said he still wasn't ready. I was getting pretty impatient, but what could I do by myself? I'd probably end up killing Jesse…well, you know what I mean. So I waited…and waited…and waited. 

The morning of December 3 dawned cold and windy. I woke up at around 9:30, shivering under my covers. I looked over my shoulder and saw why: the window was wide open. Usually my mom closes it during the night. I reluctantly got out of bed to slam it shut, and then I wrapped myself in my bathrobe, shoved my feet into my fuzzy slippers, and walked downstairs. The whole family was sitting around the table, obviously waiting for me.

"Happy birthday!" They all shouted. I grinned, despite myself. I mean, I know it was corny and everything, but they were all part of my family—yes, I considered them all my family, even Brad—and I was glad they cared.

"So, Suzie, I know I used to give you your presents after dinner on your birthday, but this year we thought we'd give them to you earlier." My mom said. Meaning that the Ackerman family always got their presents earlier. Oh well, I didn't mind. Now that we're one big happy family, like the Brady Bunch or something, I would have to start making new traditions. Plus, now I get to enjoy my presents all day, always a good thing. My mom just stood there smiling at me, so I looked around, but I didn't see any presents.

"Um, OK…where are they?" I asked confusedly.

"Come on!" David said, and then started towards the basement door. Um, the basement? Why would my presents be in there? The basement was an unfinished mess of pipes and concrete. I walked down the steps, and gasped. Am I in the wrong house, or something? I guess not, because Andy asked me excitedly if I liked it.

The basement was completely refinished, with a light blue carpet, light wood-paneled walls, and a couple of small pieces of furniture around the edges of the new room. However, the real shock was what was in the room. Andy, and I can only assume my three stepbrothers, had put in a high-tech treadmill and a rowing machine—in front of a new big screen TV—and a brand new punching bag in the corner. There was even an exercise mat down on the floor and small hand weights by the wall.

Like it? I LOVED it!! I stared, speechless, at the new exercise room, as David said,

"Well, we knew you like to work out, but you didn't really have a place to do it, so Dad suggested that we build you one."

"Wow. It's amazing!" I said. "Thank you guys soo much!! I love it!" I squealed.

"Check it out." Brad said, walking over to the shelves that the TV was resting on. "We even installed a surround-sound system, and there's a CD/DVD player so you can watch movies or listen to music while you work out." I looked at him curiously. I thought he hated me…why is he being so nice all of a sudden? I know it's my birthday, but still.

"Thanks Brad. And everyone else, too. It's perfect." I really meant it, too. I didn't know what kind of presents I had been expecting from my stepbrothers, but I didn't think they'd actually think about what I like to do and give me something I could use.

"Well, we're glad you like it." Andy said, smiling. And I really think he was. Glad, I mean. He's the kind of guy that gets happy making other people happy. He really is a nice guy, my stepfather. "And this is your own space, kind of like a second bedroom. So we'll make sure everyone respects your privacy, and knocks before they come down." He glared at Brad when he said this, who said,

"What? I already have a place to work out. Not like I'd use this chick room anyway, I'd rather go to the gym." We all rolled our eyes at that, but decided to ignore him. We usually do. Then my mom suddenly got all excited, and gushed,

"You haven't opened our present yet, Susie!" By 'our', I assumed she meant her and Andy's present. We all filed up the stairs again, and she pulled out a small box with a bow on it…you know, the kind that usually has jewelry in it. So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited opening it up. Every girl loves jewelry. But when I lifted the lid, imagine my surprise when I found, not a pretty pair of earrings or a gold necklace, but a key. My mom must have seen the confused look on my face, because she sighed—not in an annoyed way, but in an "I can't believe my daughter is such a ditz, she doesn't know what this is" way—and led me to the front door. I looked outside, and saw…

a CAR. Oh, but not just any car. A BRAND NEW MINI COOPER. A light blue one, to be exact. My DREAM car. **(A/N: Ahem, actually, it's _my_ dream car, but Suze can have it since I can't…grumble**) And it's all mine. Now, you might be thinking,

"Hey, isn't this the girl from New York City? I thought she didn't even care that she didn't have her license a little while ago." Yeah, but after spending about a year in sunny ol' California, with no access to a subway or bus system, I have gotten pretty tired of bumming rides off of people. So I practiced, I took the test, and I passed. However, even with a license, I didn't have access to a car.

Until now.

"Oh. My. God. Is that MINE?" I practically screamed. I don't care if I sounded like an idiot…I HAD A CAR! My mom looked—if this was possible—almost as excited as me.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm glad you like it. Andy and I didn't think it was fair that Brad had a car to drive and you didn't, so we couldn't resist buying you one." Dude, I have the coolest mom—and step dad—on the planet!!

"Can I go try it out?" I asked hopefully. My mom looked at me funnily, and then asked,

"Um, don't you want to get dressed first?" I looked down at myself, and snorted. I was still wearing my bathrobe and fuzzy bunny slippers.

"Haha. Yeah, that might be a good idea." I ran upstairs and put on my birthday outfit. No, not my birthday suit. Jeez, I'm not like that. I meant the outfit that I picked out for today—which is, coincidentally, my birthday. Get it? Um, anyways. The ensemble I picked out was a short pink and yellow plaid skirt and soft yellow long sleeved top, with my new pink Uggs. I looked totally cute, if I do say so myself.

I was just finishing putting my makeup on when the phone rang.

"Suze! It's for you!" David called up the stairs.

"Hello?" I said in my phone voice—you know, the bright, telemarketer voice.

"Happy birthday, hun!" CeeCee squealed into my ear.

"Hun? What are you, from Baltimore, or something?" I laughed. **(A/N: Don't ask. If you've ever been to B-more, you'll know what I mean.)**

"Huh?" CeeCee said confusedly.

"Never mind. I was just about to call you by the way. So what's up?" I asked, twirling the phone cord with my pinkie finger and applying lip gloss.

"Are you doing anything right now? Because Adam and I were thinking we could come pick you up and go to the beach or something. We need to give you your presents!" I grinned.

"Why don't I come pick you guys up in my _new car_?" I said.

"WHAT? You're kidding! Yeah, go ahead. What kind is it?"

"You'll see soon enough. Alright, see you in a few."

"Bye girl!"

I grabbed my jacket and was out the door faster than you can say shifter.

* * *

CeeCee and Adam were as psyched as I was about the car ("Now you don't have to bum rides off me!" Adam said, smirking) and we had a great time cruising Seventeen Mile Drive and laughing at the sunburned tourists on the beach. Cee got me the gorgeous handbag from New York and Co. that I had pointed out when we went shopping, and Adam got me the movie Ghostbusters, saying I was just like Bill Murray. Hah, typical Adam. 

We had so much fun that I lost track of time and ended up getting home at around 6…I was only planning on being gone for a couple hours. However, when I walked in the door, my mom, instead of being annoyed, looked strangely happy.

"You had a visitor, Susie." She said excitedly. I groaned. No need to ask who that was. Instead, I asked,

"He's not still here, is he?" She pursed her lips, and said sternly,

"Now Suze, don't be like that. This boy seems very nice, and he's been giving you quite a lot of attention. Shouldn't you be happier?" Yeah, Mom, I know you're surprised. She might as well say _'You're _lucky_ this boy is paying attention to you'_…way to rub in the fact that I'm a dateless freak. That's just great.

But of course, I didn't say that. My mom continued, saying,

"I think he left you a little something in your room." I sighed, and stalked up the steps, muttering under my breath. Who does he think he is, anyway? Thinking he can just waltz into my life—not literally, obviously, that would be a little fruity—and get me to fall head over heels in love with him…well, it's not going to—

Whoa. I happened to glance at my vanity table when I walked through the door, and sitting on top of it was a huge bouquet of coral pink and dark red roses **(A/N: coral rose passion, dark red rose unconscious beauty) **in a gorgeous crystal vase. As I walked closer, I saw that there was something wrapped around the vase. I picked it up and gasped. Clasped around the sparkling crystal was a necklace—a _diamond_ necklace with a silver chain. It must have cost a fortune! It was a completely inappropriate birthday gift from a guy I didn't even like…and it was gorgeous. Automatically, I picked up the card tucked into the perfect rosebuds, and tore it open.

_I know you say you hate me. You think you have me all figured out, Suze. You think that I'm some horrible bad guy that only thinks about money, power, and—lets face it—sex. And maybe I used to be like that…before you came into my life. But I think all along, I was waiting for something to come along that would give my life meaning. You think it's just a phase I'm going through, an infatuation…but you're wrong. This is real, Susannah Simon, what I feel for you. I'm not going to scare you by saying those 3 words…but I think you get my meaning. I want you in my life, now and forever. Just think about it. I'll be waiting._

_Happy Sweet Seventeen. I hope your day is as perfect as you are._

_Just think about it…_

_Paul_

Jeez. Way to spring that on me…I was actually having fun today. And now this. I sighed, and put the card down. _Just think about it…_

As I was trying to decide what to do about this new development, I was distracted by something else—or some_one_ else, I should say. He was sitting on my bed, regarding me with that cool, unreadable gaze.

"So." Jesse said conversationally. "Nice gift." I sighed and sat down on my bed next to him.

"I didn't ask Paul to give me a present…especially one so expensive. I don't know what to do with it. I hate the guy, but then he does something like this…the necklace is beautiful, but it's from Paul Slater." I was saying just what I was thinking. I didn't really expect Jesse to understand, but I didn't want to lie to him and say I hated it.

But Jesse did seem to understand. He put his arm around me, pulling me close and whispering, "Happy birthday, querida" before kissing the top of my head. "I know it's not your fault that Slater is in love with you—actually, I don't blame him. But it is not his place to do things like this." I smiled mischievously and asked,

"Oh, yeah? Whose place is it, then?" He grinned and ruffled my hair.

"Now that I think about it, I do have something for a certain seventeen year old." He reached behind him and took hold of a small wooden box that had been sitting on the bedspread. It was chipped and dusty, and a little discolored, as if it had been sitting around for a long time. I opened it—after blowing some of the dust off—and my eyes almost bugged out of my head. I know, charming, right? But, seriously. I wish every one of my birthdays were as full of pretty stuff as this one was. Inside the box was a silver ring with a princess cut emerald stone in the middle. The silver band was semi-thick, with an intricate weaving design leading into the stone.** (A/N: I'm really bad at describing jewelry; just take my word for it, it's pretty)** I stared at it, completely at a loss for words. How did Jesse get this? It's not as if he can just walk into a jewelry store and lay down cash…not only does he not have cash, no one can see him. And, sorry, but I don't see him as the stealing type of ghost—you know, the break and enter, just because he's invisible.

"It was my mother's." He explained, seeming to reading my mind. "I took a little trip to my ranch, and surprisingly, much of our old stuff was still there. I didn't think the new owners would mind this going missing, and I thought it would look beautiful on you." Aw. That's so sweet! He gave me his mother's jewelry! I couldn't contain the grin that spread across my face—I probably looked like a goofy idiot, but I didn't care. I threw my arms around Jesse's neck and kissed him quickly.

"I love it!" I squealed.

"I know it's not as expensive as _Slater's_ gift, but—" I silenced him with another kiss.

"It's perfect." I told him. And it was. Perfect, I mean. That word pretty much summed up my whole day, too. Well, except for the whole Paul thing. I didn't know what I was going to do about that. But he was leaving for Seattle, so at least I would be spared a couple of days of him. Actually, come to think about it, that would be a perfect time to carry out my little Jesse plan without interference. I smiled, thinking about the look on Paul's face when he sees Live Jesse…hahaha.

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Hahaha is right. Suze's little maniacal laugh…I know that whole chapter was a little pointless, but oh well. I'm having a little bit of trouble writing right now, so bear with me.**


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